Valmiki Ramayana 2.36.33: Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 36, Shloka 33
अयोध्याकाण्डे षट्त्रिंशः सर्गः · Daśaratha’s orders for Rama’s escort; Kaikeyi’s fear; the Asamañjasa precedent
Spoken by Dasharatha to KaikeyiSetting: Ayodhyā (royal precincts)
अनुव्रजिष्याम्यहमद्य रामं राज्यं परित्यज्य सुखं धनं च ।
सहैव राज्ञा भरतेन च त्वं यथासुखं भुङ्क्ष्व चिराय राज्यम् ॥३३॥
anuvrajiṣyāmy aham adya rāmaṃ rājyaṃ parityajya sukhaṃ dhanaṃ ca |
sahaiva rājñā bharatena ca tvaṃ yathāsukhaṃ bhuṅkṣva cirāya rājyam ||33||
मैं आज राज्य छोड़ के राम के साथ चलूँगी। यह सुख और धन सब छोड़ के। तू भरत के साथ राज्य का मज़ा ले। जब तक तुम्हे सही लगे, तब तक राज्य पे रहो।
Sandhi Notes
- anuvrajiṣyāmyahamadya = anuvrajiṣyāmi + aham + adya
- yathāsukhaṃ is an avyayībhāva compound
Abandoning this kingdom, these comforts and this wealth, I shall follow Rama. Enjoy the kingdom for a long time happily along with king Bharata.ityārṣē śrīmadrāmāyaṇē vālmīkīya ādikāvyē ayōdhyākāṇḍē ṣaṭtriṅśassargaḥ৷৷Thus ends the thirtysixth sarga of Ayodhyakanda of the holy Ramayana, the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
The teaching
Power sought through desire and manipulation fractures family and polity; dharma cannot be secured by adharma.
Duties in tension
- Rājadharma (just succession) vs personal desire (putra-rājya-kāma)
- Pativrata/saubhāgya duty to support the king vs coercing him through boons
- Kṣatriya duty to protect the rightful heir vs engineering exile
- Ethical theme
- Rājadharma / adharma driven by kāma
- How it resolves
- Coercive assertion (adharmic resolution)
For your practice
Contemplation on vairāgya vs craving; vigilance against ambition masquerading as duty.
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury), with Karuna (compassion)
- Mood
- Unyielding, cutting, fateful
Themes
- Dharma
- Renunciation
- Loyalty
- Ethics
- Family conflict
Tyāga of external possessions contrasted with attachment; the verse dramatizes how rāga (desire) drives adharma, a foil to true renunciation.
Īśāvāsya-style tension between enjoyment (bhoga) and renunciation (tyāga), though here voiced as coercive political will.
- Kaikeyi and Rama
- Queen-consort to crown-prince; exile decree context (adversarial)
- Kaikeyi and Bharata
- Mother-son; ambition projected onto son (possessive)
- Kaikeyi and Dasharatha
- Wife-husband; co-regency implied (cold)
- Bharata and Rama
- Brothers; succession tension implied (strained)
- Dasharatha and Rama
- Father-son; separation implied (grieving)
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.18–2.20 (Kaikeyī’s boons and exile demand); Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.40–2.41 (Daśaratha’s collapse and lament); Rāmacaritamānasa Ayodhyākāṇḍa (Kaikeyī’s insistence; exile)
rājya-kāma motif in Itihāsa-Purāṇa (desire for sovereignty as adharma trigger)
Ayodhyākāṇḍa 2.36 context: logistical/psychological framing of exile
Anuṣṭup
Commanding
Madhyama-gati with sharp udātta on "रामं" and "राज्यम्"
FAQs
Dharma is loyalty to righteousness over power: Daśaratha declares he would abandon sovereignty rather than abandon the righteous son who is being wronged.
In the confrontation with Kaikeyī, Daśaratha expresses a desperate resolve to go with Rāma, leaving the throne to Bharata under Kaikeyī’s influence.
Daśaratha’s attachment and allegiance to Rāma’s dharmic worth, valuing the person of virtue over the possession of rule.
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